


Worlds Collided

by JGVFHL



Category: Merlin (TV), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Bisaster Fives meet Pandemonium Gwaine, Crossover, Dumbasses of the Round Table, Gen, Leon Is Not Paid Enough, Obi-Wan Should Not Be Allowed in A Library with Other People, Rex Is Not Paid Enough, Star Wars/Merlin, The Cloons, hazards to society
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-26
Updated: 2020-05-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:41:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24395959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JGVFHL/pseuds/JGVFHL
Summary: King Arthur's court sees a lot of strange things happen in Camelot. Arthur's father married a troll, remember? But that's nothing compared these people. At least he's pretty sure they're all people...
Comments: 13
Kudos: 93





	Worlds Collided

The Republic flagship approached the blue, green, and white orb floating in starry space. From the bridge, Obi-Wan and Anakin watched it grow steadily larger, wondering what sort of life they would find here, and if that life would be intelligent enough to help the Republic cause. Captain Rex stood by as well, waiting for commands from his general. None of them had ever been this far in the outskirts of the galaxy, and no one had heard of this planet until a few weeks ago.

"It reminds me of Naboo," Anakin remarked.

Anakin's padawan Ahsoka Tano spoke up. "Hopefully, this visit is a little less eventful than my trip to Naboo."

"Yeah, hopefully."

The cruiser drew closer, entering the upper atmosphere towards the north end of the planet. Anakin, Obi-Wan, Captain Rex, Ahsoka, and a small party of clone troopers marched down to the hangar to board a transport to fly down to the planet's surface. The ship zoomed down over a large island covered in forests and farmland. Upon closer inspection, there was a large city in the southern half of the land with roads leading in every directions. It seemed a promising point for civilized contact. They touched down in a large clearing just outside the city, and the doors slid open. The crew had already determined the oxygen-rich atmosphere perfectly safe for everyone onboard, so the passengers stepped out without hesitation to survey the land.

"Looks like we found the people," Anakin said, indicating the stone castle rising out of the forest.

"So it would seem," Obi-Wan agreed. "Let's find out whose side they're on."

The two Jedi and the Padawan led the troopers through the yellowing grasses towards the road leading to the city. Upon reaching the road, they encountered travelers with carts pulled by strange creatures and carrying strange goods.

"They look like humans," Anakin whispered to Obi-Wan. "I've never seen a whole planet of humans before."

"It is uncommon, I'll admit," the other Jedi replied. "But remember, this is only a single island on this large planet. There could always be other intelligent species in other places."

"Right," Anakin nodded.

"Still, it's looks like they've never seen off-worlders before in their lives. Not many planets left like that," Ahsoka pointed out.

Her point was exampled quickly. A woman carrying a basket of vegetables dropped it with a shriek of alarm and pointed at them. "Monster!"

"What?" Ahsoka wasn't sure if she should feel offended by that.

The clone troopers with them tensed at the insult, shifting their grips on their blasters, but Anakin and Obi-Wan shook their heads. _Stay calm_.

Within moments, a man in a red uniform and metal helmet came running.

"Halt!" the man said, pointing a spear at the group. "Declare yourself."

Obi-Wan stepped forward. "I am General Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Grand Army of the Republic. We come in peace. We wish to speak with your leader."

The guard eyed the group warily. "What Republic? I meant that thing. Declare it."

"Excuse me?" Ahsoka said, crossing her arms, now rightfully indignant. "My name is Ahsoka Tano, and I'm a Togruta, not a monster."

Suddenly, a man ran up to the guard and whispered something in his ear. He shot a terrified glance at the newcomers before bolting off again. The guard turned to the travelers. "A flying ship?" he asked.

"Oh, yes," Obi-Wan said. "Our transport ship landed not far from here. Just at the edge of the forest. We hope that's of no inconvenience?"

"Of no incon—? It's illegal!" the guard said. "All magic is outlawed in Camelot; has been for years."

"Well, it's not magic," Ahsoka said. "It's perfectly valid science."

"Look," Anakin said, "we mean you no harm, we just want to speak with whoever's in charge."

"Oh, you'll see the king," the guard said. "Because you're all under arrest for using magic within the kingdom, and for... for... that too!" he added, looking again at Ahsoka.

The guard called for reinforcements, and several more of his fellows came running, all brandishing spears. Primitive weapons, really, but they didn't know that.

"This is ridiculous," the trooper Hardcase muttered. All the clones agreed silently.

"Steady, men," Anakin murmured to them. "They don't know what's going on anymore than we do."

The guard who had first arrived received a pair of manacles from another and held them out to Anakin. "We don't need the orange one causing a panic in town."

"I'm a 'she,' thank you very much," Ahsoka cut in. The guard handed the manacles off and quickly took a step back.

Anakin exchanged looks with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka before sighing. "Sorry, Snips."

"What? No!"

"They're just metal," Obi-Wan said, inspecting the device. Lowering his voice, he added, "You'll be able to get out of them fairly easily, I'm sure."

"Put them on!" the guard barked. Ahsoka glared viciously at him, but allowed Anakin to lock the cuffs around her wrists. "Walk with us," the guard ordered once the other guards had surrounded the strange group. They had little choice but to follow them through the gates and through the lower town.

~+~

"So much for intelligent life forms," Fives muttered as he and his brothers followed their commanding officers along the cobbled street. He kept his voice down and out of range of Captain Rex, who walked with the rest of the officers.

"They didn't even confiscate our blasters," Echo replied next to him. The two ARC troopers walked ahead of the rest.

Behind Echo, Jesse added, "They might not know what they are. They probably don't think they're dangerous."

This little subsection of the Torrent Company had seen plenty since the war had started. That was a lot of the reason they were the ones planetside for this mission. They were used to all kinds of welcomes on all kinds of planets, but this one was strange even for clones. Most glaringly, all the planets in the galaxy knew about other planets. Other species from other planets and other star systems were common knowledge everywhere. Everywhere except here, apparently. All the people they passed stopped whatever they were doing and stared openly at them, and especially at Commander Tano.

"Cozy little town, though," Echo remarked. Despite the comfort the sentence implied, none of the clones were at ease. This still could turn ugly in a second. They'd all seen it too many times to drop their guard.

"It'll feel better when all the locals stop staring at us like that," Hardcase said darkly.

"Hear, hear," Kix agreed. Technically, this wasn't a mission where a field medic was necessary, but Kix had volunteered, and General Skywalker had agreed. He was mostly there to make sure his batchmate Jesse stayed in one piece.

The final two clones in the group were the youngest, Dogma and Tup. Although they were less experienced, they fit right in with the 501st and Torrent Company. Their helmets were tilted up towards the top floors of the castle, but no one could tell if that was from caution or curiosity.

The group was marched into the stone citadel into a courtyard. Although the weapons and communication technology seemed lacking on this planet so far, the architecture was something to appreciate. The stonework was masterfully done. Like the town outside, there were people bustling around the courtyard, pulling carts and leading animals. A few men passed them wearing red cloaks, chain link shirts, and an air of authority like Captain Rex had.

Finally, they were led through a pair of large wooden doors into a stone hall with two thrones at the far end. Red and gold banners and pennants hung from the rafters and along the pillars flanking the room. The clones' armor clunked noisily in the silence that greeted them. No one liked it.

~+~

King Arthur of Camelot was used to strange occurrences. Really, he was. But this was a bit much. He sat still, trying not to let his confusion and curiosity show on his face as the group of ten was marched into his throne room. The guards saluted him briefly before turning their attention back to the strangers. Arthur took a breath and glanced at Gwen on the throne beside him. She gave a tiny encouraging smile. He looked to the other side at Merlin, whose curiosity was plain on his face, and his servant shrugged openly. Helpful, as always.

Arthur stood up. "So," he began, "you're the ones who arrived in a flying... craft."

"Our transport ship, yes," said one of the men in the front. He looked a little older than Arthur, but his reddish hair showed no signs of grey yet.

Arthur nodded. "And you're not here to invade us?"

"No, no, of course not," the man replied with a simple smile.

"Then who are you?"

The man's air of calm faltered slightly, and he exchanged a look with the man next to him. "I'm General Obi-Wan Kenobi of--well, you won't have heard of it--of the Grand Army of the Republic."

"I'm General Anakin Skywalker," the other man said. "This is my pad--uh, she's my apprentice Ahsoka Tano. We come in peace."

Arthur eyed Ahsoka. She was orange. She had horns. She had striped tails growing from her head in three directions. She didn't look very happy about the situation, but then Arthur noticed the cuffs around her wrists. Anyone was bound to look unhappy like that. Arthur was silent for a long time. These... people didn't seem like a threat to him or to Camelot, but this Grand Army.... He didn't know. His gut told him they were telling the truth about coming in peace, despite the oddly intimidating armored figures standing behind them. His best option was to answer their questions and get them out of here as soon as possible.

"Guards, you're dismissed," he said. His men saluted him and turned to exit. "Wait," Arthur called. "One of you, take her cuffs off." The man with the keys stopped and nervously approached the group of strangers. Ahsoka held her wrists out, unflinching as the guard unlocked the manacles and took them away. "In fact," Arthur added as an afterthought, "everyone is dismissed. I want to talk to them personally." The nobility and knights in the throne room started murmuring, but slowly filtered out of the room.

The doors closed with a dull echoing thud.

Arthur approached the eleven people. "My name is Arthur Pendragon. I am king of Camelot, where you are now. I apologize if my guards were... heavy-handed. We don't get people like you in Camelot. At all."

General Kenobi nodded. "I understand, Your Majesty."

"And who are they?" Arthur asked, looking past him at the others behind him.

"Oh," General Skywalker (what kind of name was that?) said, "those are my men. Soldiers."

Arthur couldn't help it. "Are they...?" He looked at Ahsoka, not sure if he wanted to know what color they were.

"Take your helmets off, men," Skywalker ordered. The seven responded immediately, tucking the helmets under their left arms neatly. They looked human. They looked normal. They... were identical.

His confusion must have shown, because Ahsoka quickly added, "They're clones, Your Majesty. They do sort of all look alike."

Clones. Arthur nodded. "Of course." After a brief pause to let his brain try to catch up with the information (it didn't), he asked, "Why are you here?"

Kenobi began. "Well, we were exploring the outer edges of this part of the galaxy, and we stumbled upon--"

Skywalker interrupted. "Exploration. We've never heard of this place before, and we wanted to know who was here and what sort of place it was."

"Right. Is there anything I can do to..." How could say he wanted them to leave without sounding rude? "How can I help you on your way?"

Skywalker, Kenobi, and Ahsoka turned to each other in some silent conversation. It was slightly unnerving. "Well," Kenobi said, "I suppose some information about your kingdom and country, what other civilizations there are in this world.... Things like that. Would you be able to provide some of that?"

"I'm sure our library can," Arthur replied, relieved their request was so simple. "Geoffrey might even have copies of some of our historical texts, if you're at all interested in that."

"That would be perfect, thank you," Kenobi replied with a smile.

In Arthur's focus on the newcomers, he had failed to notice Gwen walking over to join him. But she spoke up now. "Is there anything else you need? We have guest rooms; I'm sure we can accommodate all of you, if you need to stay."

Her offer raised more than a few pairs of eyebrows among the visitors. Skywalker and Kenobi started talking at once.

"Oh, no, really, Your Majesty--"

"Absolutely not necessary, thank you--"

Kenobi won out. "We'll be gone as soon as we have the information you offered. Our transport isn't far from here, and the flagship has everything we need."

Arthur decided not to ask what a flagship was. "Very good. Gwen, can you see to court while I deal with this?"

"Of course, I'll stay any rumors that might have cropped up."

"Good, thank you. Merlin," he called to his servant, who quickly was at his side. "Find the knights for me. Leon, Elyan, Percival, Gwaine." Merlin nodded and disappeared through a side doorway. "I take it your men don't need to accompany you to the library?"

The two generals turned to one of them. He was blond, not black-haired like the rest. "I'm staying with the generals, sir," he answered smartly. "But the others, no. I doubt they'd be caught dead in a library, sir."

"Sir, no, sir," one of the men behind him said under his breath.

"Then, I'm sure my knights can find some way to keep them occupied. Merlin's fetching them now." Arthur made a mental note to remind Gwaine not to set anything on fire when he saw him. Moments later, the four knights appeared with Merlin. Like Arthur expected, they took one look at the people assembled there, and confusion promptly appeared on all their faces.

"What the hell?" Gwaine muttered. Percival elbowed him to shut him up.

"We have some visitors, men," Arthur explained. "Four of them are coming with me, but that means the other seven are with you. Obviously, people aren't thrilled with... all of this, so try to keep them out of the way, if you can. And Gwaine," he looked pointedly at him, "no setting anything on fire."

"It was a small fire."

"I don't care! You're representing Camelot now."

"When are we not representing Camelot?" Gwaine said.

Arthur took steps towards him, lowering his voice. "When you're in the tavern making a fool out of yourself, so unless you want to lead training for the next three whole days, behave yourself." That shut him up and earned restrained smiles from Percival and Elyan. "Good luck, Leon."

"Thank you, Sire," the knight replied with a small sigh.

"Right," Arthur said, returning to Kenobi and Skywalker, "if you'll follow me, gentlemen. And... lady."

~+~

Echo, like Fives next to him, was carefully sizing up the knights as the king spoke to them. In the GAR, he was used to picking out little details on different brothers to tell them all apart. Planets like this, where everyone looked so different, almost gave his mind a rest from it. The knight singled out by the king had longer dark hair and stubble. Echo couldn't imagine dealing with either. The man next to him had darker skin even than the clones, and black hair. Of the two tallest knights, one had longer curly hair, and the other's hair was cropped short.

Just before the officers left after the king, Captain Rex paused in front of them, and Echo stood just a little taller. "I hope I don't have to remind you all that we're guests here."

"No, sir," they chorused.

"Good. Behave."

They saluted their captain and watched him leave the throne room after the Jedi. Then, it was just the queen, the four knights, and the one called Merlin standing by. A painfully awkward and silent moment passed.

"So," one of the knights said, looking helplessly at the queen. "Any suggestions, my lady?"

The queen smiled. She reminded Echo a lot of Senator Amidala. "I'm sure you can think of something. I need to go explain all of this to the council and court, so if you'll excuse me." She turned and smiled at the six troopers. "Welcome to Camelot." She left out of the side door with a swish of fabric, and Merlin followed her.

"Right, who the hell are you lot?" the same knight asked as soon as they were gone. "No one has explained anything to us."

Echo looked around at his brothers, all of them trying to silently nominate a speaker. By rank, it should be either Fives or himself--one of the two ARCs. Fives shrugged and signed, _You first,_ in ARC sign language _._ Of course.

"We're soldiers," Echo started, a little unsure of what information to give.

"So are we," the knight with black hair said. "Why do you all look alike?"

"We're clones," Echo explained. "We're all made from the same DNA."

"DNA?"

They didn't know what DNA was? How was that possible? Echo glanced at Fives, who shrugged again. "We're like twins or triplets. Just... more of us."

"Right," the first knight said slowly, taking a few steps towards them. "Names?"

"I'm Echo. This is Fives, that's Jesse, our field medic Kix, Hardcase, Dogma, and Tup."

The knight's eyebrows went up. "How'd you get those names?"

"We name ourselves. What about you? You are?"

"I'm Gwaine. Those are Elyan, Percival, and the one who looks like he doesn't want to be here is Leon." After a second, he said, "Look, I've no idea why they handed you over to us."

"It's alright," Echo said. "We're used to being left on our own like that. The generals know we can take care of ourselves."

"Glad you can," Percival said. "God knows Gwaine's hopeless at it."

"Hey, shut it, Percy."

Echo smirked at that. It reminded him of dealing with Fives and Hardcase. Judging by those brothers' expressions, they saw it too.

Leon finally spoke. "Why don't we go to the armory? Training's off today, so it'll be empty. Arthur said to keep out of the way."

"Sounds great, let's go," Gwaine agreed immediately.

~+~

The armory stayed blissfully cool during the summer months, and today was bright and sunny and just too hot, as far as Gwaine was concerned. He knew Leon hated it too, but he would never complain. Gwaine sometimes wondered if he knew how to complain. When they arrived in the cool shade of the armory, the knights led the group to where the armory opened onto the training green, and because of the time of day, there was plenty of shade there. Leon and Elyan pulled two wooden benches over to the entrance, but Gwaine just sat down on the grass, unclipping his red cloak and bundling it up in a pile.

"So if you're all like twins or whatnot, doesn't that make you all brothers?" he asked.

"Yep," Fives answered.

"So how old are you?" Percival asked, sitting down next to Gwaine and leaning back on his hands.

The clones looked at each other. Eventually, Fives answered, "Eh, around nine or ten, the lot of us."

"Clones don't age normally," Kix said before the obvious could be asked. "We're made to age faster than humans so we're ready to fight that much faster."

"Wait," Leon said. "You're made... just for war."

"Yeah," Echo nodded. "Human to outwit the machines, but mass produced just like them."

"What machines?" Elyan wanted to know.

"Assume we know absolutely nothing," Gwaine said. "'Cos we don't."

"Oh, now you'll admit that," Percival added. "You always seem to defend yourself when I point it out."

"Yeah, 'cos I do know everything you can ask me, and you're not some bloke who flew out of the sky with white and blue armor, are you, Percival?"

Elyan snorted. "Gwaine, you can barely read."

That caught the clones' attentions. "He can't read?" Fives repeated.

Tup made a dramatic gasp. "Hardcase! Finally, you're not alone!" He put an arm around the man sitting next to him.

Hardcase growled and shoved his brother roughly. "Shut your kriffing mouth! I can read just fine."

"Oh yeah? Read Kix's head," Tup challenged. He dodged a swipe from Hardcase, grinning.

Kix rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows what's on my head, Tup."

"Hey, where do you guys get your tattoos?" Gwaine asked. All of them except Echo had visible ink on the faces and heads, and Dogma and Jesse had tattoos right over one eye, which had to have hurt like hell. "They all look great."

"Oh, thanks," Jesse answered, running a hand over where he knew the circular tattoo lay on his head. "There are places all over the galaxy you can get ink."

"Is Camelot always this quiet?" Fives asked, looking around. For the first time since Gwaine had seen him, he looked a little relaxed.

Leon smiled and shook his head. "No. Camelot has plenty of enemies thanks to Arthur's father. But I suspect it's a lot quieter than what you're used to."

"No kidding," Fives agreed. "Usually, we're only planetside when there's something trying to kill us. Shore leave is usually on Coruscant, and that place is never, ever, _ever_ quiet."

Gwaine nodded, understanding the sentiment if not the specific idea. "Yeah... it is nice. And we don't have training today, so that's extra nice."

The clones smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I hear that," Hardcase agreed.

"At least you don't have Captain Rex running it," Tup said.

"Yeah?" Percival said. "We've got Leon."

Leon scowled. "I'm not that bad."

Elyan and Gwaine both scoffed at him. "My back would say differently, Sir Rules and Regulations," Gwaine said.

"I could barely pick up my sword last time you ran drills!" Elyan added.

"It's not my fault you're out of shape, then, is it?" Leon shot back. "If you weren't late for training all the time, it wouldn't be so bad, Gwaine."

"Late for training, huh?" Echo smiled. "Now, who does that remind me of?" He turned and rested his elbow on Fives' shoulder.

"Shove off, Echo, I made it through ARC training, didn't I?"

"Ooh, barely, though," his brother continued.

"'Barely' my ass!" Fives shoved him off the end of the bench, Echo laughing at his indignation.

Almost instantly, Hardcase started a quiet chant of "Fight, fight, fight, fight--"

"No, we're not gonna spar, we're guests," Echo said, still with a smile on his face. He brushed himself off but remained on the ground.

Elyan shrugged. "I mean, this is the training green. It's where we go to spar."

"Or where Gwaine hides when he raids the kitchen because he thinks no one will look for him here," Percival said.

"And where you ratted me out last time," Gwaine replied. Percival chuckled. After a second of thought, he perked up. "Hey, you know what? If one of them was a distraction, I could steal so many treats from the kitchens."

"Do you share the treats afterwards?" Hardcase inquired.

"Of course I do."

"Do not," Leon said.

"You're the one who turns me in! Of course I don't share with you."

"Sounds reasonable," Hardcase said.

Dogma shook his head. "Hardcase, don't."

"What? I'm tired of rations."

"We're all sick of rations, but that doesn't mean we help steal food from civvies," Dogma reiterated.

Leon gestured to him. "I like you. You make sense. Someone get that into Gwaine's head, please."

"There's plenty of room in there, don't worry," Percival smiled, putting a hand on Gwaine's head. Gwaine smacked it away instantly. Percival may have been the only knight who sometimes got explicit permission to touch his hair, but those instances were rare at best. He would have made more of a fuss about it, but he was already hatching a plan to confiscate several biscuits and tarts from the kitchens. Somehow, he needed Leon out of the way...

~+~

Inside in the library, Ahsoka had remembered that as a Youngling, Obi-Wan could put her to sleep by just picking up a book to read at bedtime. That man with a book was a dangerous combination to anyone's consciousness. She had no idea how Anakin was still over there and listening. Luckily, she was still a Padawan, so she had some leeway to sneak off and find books that actually interested her. Not all of them were in a language she could read, but she finally found one to occupy her time.

She almost wasn't aware of the presence approaching her, but any Force-sensitive being would be hard-pressed to overlook that much power in one person. Ahsoka shut her book and turned around. It was the man from the throne room who had brought the knights. So much power...

"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you like that," he said with a small smile. He was good, she could tell.

"No, not at all," she replied. "Merlin, right?"

He nodded. "Ahsoka?"

"Yeah. I think you're the first person here who hasn't freaked out when they saw me."

"Oh," Merlin said, rubbing his neck. "Yeah, well... I'm not one to do that, really. I mean I've seen worse. Not worse! You're not bad, you're just--you're fine, obviously, um--" His ears slowly started turning pink as embarrassment set in. "Sorry."

Ahsoka gave an amused smile. "No need. But now I'm curious. What have you seen that ranks higher than a Togruta on the weird scale?"

Merlin paused for a moment, casting an eye to where the two generals and his king were talking. "Well, Arthur's father married a troll once."

Ahsoka recalled Jedi Master Drallig had been nicknamed "the Troll," so she knew it wasn't a flattering term, but she had never actually seen a real one. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Well the king was enchanted," Merlin explained like it was an everyday occurrence. "But my god, that troll was the most hideous thing I've ever seen. You can ask anyone who was around for it. Leon still holds it over the other knights as the strangest thing that's happened at Camelot. I mean that thing ate horse dung! At the table!"

"Ew. Is that why magic is banned in the kingdom?" she asked, recalling what the guard had said before arresting them all.

"I wish it were that simple," Merlin sighed. "But it's not."

"I don't understand how you can ban magic. That is what you call the Force, right?"

"The Force?"

He hadn't heard of the Force. How? "It's the universal energy binding all things together. It runs through everything."

After a moment to process, Merlin nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's pretty close."

"So how do you ban something universal?" Ahsoka repeated.

He sighed, rolling his eyes a little. "Kill anything that looks even vaguely magical. That's how the Pendragons do it."

"What?" Ahsoka was horrified. Of course, she'd encountered people and cultures who didn't exactly like the Jedi, and many people went against the Sith, but just flat out hating the Force? That was a deeper level of enmity entirely. "But, then how... I mean, you're..." She paused, realizing this young man might not know just how powerful with the Force he was. Best to proceed with caution. "So you know," she began, "the generals and I can all sense people strong with the Force. People who can use magic, as you call it."

Merlin blinked, a brief and unidentifiable emotion flickering in his eyes. "Oh. Sorry, am I deafening you?" So he did know.

"No, not at all," she quickly said. "I honestly just didn't know if you even knew how powerful you are."

"Believe me, I'm reminded of it every day of my life."

She nodded, hearing the weariness in his voice. "You know, I could leave you with a communicator, if you want. If you ever want a ride off this planet. You could study with the Jedi like me for a bit."

He gave a breathy laugh and dropped his gaze. "The Jedi, hm? Yeah... I have to stay here. I have to protect Arthur. Thanks, though. Thank you."

"Of course. I understand." There was a heavy pause between them, and finally, Ahsoka asked, "Hey, is there a chance we can get out of the library?"

Merlin's mood lightened instantly. "God yes, I don't know why anyone spends more time here than absolutely necessary. Let's go find the knights, yeah? And your men."

"Where do you think they ended up?" she asked, following him through the shelves to the door.

"Well, with Leon in charge, they're probably somewhere out of the way like Arthur wanted. The armory, maybe. It'll be empty today without training."

"Your knights get days without training?" Ahsoka tried to recall if there had ever been a day with the 501st that Rex wasn't up early and dragging the men from their bunks for physical. The days in battle didn't count, obviously, and she was struggling to think of an exception.

Merlin grinned. "Not very often, no. Leon rules with an iron fist."

"So does Captain Rex."

"I'm just grateful I don't have to train. It's enough work getting Arthur functional every day without it. Do you have to fight? With your men?"

"Of course," she nodded, trying not to notice the attention she drew from people passing in the corridor. "Any commanding officer should. All the Jedi are trained in combat."

"Nice. Do you know your men well?" Merlin asked, leading her down a flight of stairs. "I know Arthur's knights are invaluable to him. He knows them all by name, all their families."

Ahsoka nodded again. No matter what, cultures built around war always had similarities. "I know all my company, and a lot of the battalion. But I also have to know Obi-Wan's commander and some of his other officers. Master Skywalker and Master Kenobi care a great deal for their men, and vice versa."

They descended a final flight of stairs into a cool, dim stone chamber. There were full weapon racks along the walls, and mail shirts hung on dummies stashed in the corners. But it was also completely silent.

"Doesn't sound like they're here..." Merlin said, coming to the same conclusion. He continued on, through the stone pillars and archways of the armory. Finally, he found a pair of benches that were pulled up in a half circle. "But they were," he finished.

"Where else would they have gone? You said Leon would keep them out of the way," she said.

"I said Leon would. I said nothing about what Gwaine had planned."

"Oh," she said, a small smile on her face. She understood the difference, even if she had never met these knights. It seemed similar to the difference between letting Echo run the company and letting Hardcase run the company.

"Oh, wait, hang on." Merlin had stuck his head around the corner of the entrance onto the green.

Ahsoka followed him, and chuckled. Kix had dozed off against the wall of the castle. She was hardly surprised, considering how hard he worked all day, every day. Putting a finger to her lips for Merlin, she approached silently. When she was closer, she closed her eyes and reached out with her mind to wake him as gently as possible.

After a few seconds of concentration, Kix made a noise and shifted. "Who's dying?" he muttered.

Ahsoka smiled. "No one. They all left, actually."

The medic's eyes flew open and he sat upright. "What?" He looked around. "Sithspit."

They were interrupted by Merlin's name called from the far end of the training green in front of them.

Merlin squinted, then waved. "Leon!" They walked to meet him, and Dogma and Tup with him. Kix got to his feet, grumbling about taking advantage of the stress other people cause. Dogma and Tup saluted Ahsoka, and she waved them at ease. "Where's everyone else?" Merlin asked.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Leon said.

"Have you tried comming them?" Ahsoka asked the two clones.

"We did," Dogma said.

"Three times each," Tup added. "They're not answering."

"That's odd," Ahsoka mused, crossing her arms.

"Wait..." Merlin looked at Leon. "Leon. You didn't seriously leave four strangers to Camelot with Gwaine, Percival, and Elyan, did you?"

"I didn't leave them; they left us!"

"They gave you the slip."

"Two of them are ARCs," Tup pointed out quietly. "They're not gonna do anything that bad, right?"

Merlin and Kix scoffed, and Leon shook his head gravely. "You haven't met Gwaine. He threw me off a building once and jumped after," Merlin said. "Come on, I know what they're doing."

Ahsoka had to stifle a laugh at Dogma and Tup's shocked expressions. She had a feeling Merlin wasn't telling the full story, but it did make for a dramatic exit. Leon followed him, muttering something about getting a crossbow.

"What?" Ahsoka prompted the troopers. "You've seen General Skywalker use the Force to launch Captain Rex off of things. Shouldn't be so surprising, right, boys?"

Tup and Dogma had to admit to that. "True, Commander," Dogma said, still a little wary.

"But they all seemed so normal..." Tup finished.

"That was your first mistake," Kix told them.

~+~

Hardcase waited with the rest of the clones and the knights for Percival to give them the all clear signal that the training green and armory were empty. As Gwaine had suspected, it was, and the big knight nodded back to the rest of the group before they headed over to where they had sat previously. The two benches were undisturbed, but they all sat in a rough circle on the grass anyway. Percival laid out his cloak in the middle, and Gwaine emptied the contents of his onto it. They were a variety of fruits and breadstuffs, none of which Hardcase had seen before.

It had been a good plan, Hardcase would admit--simple, yet effective. Fives had been all too willing to distract the head cook for a while, and Echo had helped. Hardcase suspected it was Echo's way of distancing himself from the actual crime taking place. Echo may be ARC, but he was still Fives' batchmate, and there was no escaping the penchant for mischief.

Gwaine sat back on his heels. "There we are, gents. The best of Camelot's easily transportable goodies."

Elyan shook his head. "I can't decide whether to be impressed that you've gotten this down to a science, or scared to know you could probably raid my room anytime you wanted."

"How do you know we haven't raided your room already?" Gwaine grinned.

"Because if you have, and I find out, I'll steal something from Leon and frame you for it."

"Point taken." Gwaine looked back at the pile of treats. "Go ahead," he said, gesturing to the pile. "You're the guests here, anyway."

Hardcase needed no more prompting. He set aside his bucket and reached for a triangular piece of bread with berries in it. "What are they called?" he asked before biting into it. It crumbled in his mouth, sweet and tart and awesome. So much better than rations.

"These," Gwaine said, grabbing one for himself, "are blueberry scones with a honey glaze."

"His favorite," Percival added. Hardcase could taste why.

Echo raised an eyebrow as he examined a scone. "Why do I get the feeling most of this stuff is a favorite of his?"

"'Cause he stole all of it," Fives said through a mouth full of scone. Echo's lip curled slightly in disgust.

"What is this?" Jesse asked, holding up an oblong light green fruit.

"Ooh, you're welcome for that," Gwaine replied, also with his mouth full.

Percival rolled his eyes. "I nicked it, quit taking all the credit. It's a pear. It's sweet--"

Jesse bit into it, and they all watched a trail of juice run down his chin and drip onto the ground. Jesse made a noise of surprise while trying to keep his mouth closed at the same time so more juice didn't escape.

"--and really juicy," Percival finished with a smile.

"Looks too healthy for me," Fives said, grabbing another scone.

Gwaine laughed. "Yeah, I know how that is. Mate, I'm so sorry I couldn't grab you some real scones, you'd love them. Like, these are great and everything, but you really want 'em with clotted cream and raspberry jam. Fucking _divine_. Just harder to carry around."

"I don't even know what a raspberry is and I want one of those," Hardcase said. He did know Echo was a sucker for berries and cream, however. He wished he had watched his reaction to Gwaine's description.

"You guys don't get much free time, do you?" Elyan asked.

All the clones shook their heads. "It's pretty much living battle-to-battle," Echo answered. "We get a little time traveling between, but not more than three days, really."

"What do you normally do to pass the time?" Elyan continued.

"Sleep."

"We play sabacc," Jesse said. "It's a card game."

Hardcase was so bad at sabacc. Jesse had tried to teach him, but he was too impulsive to play any long-term strategy. "Sometimes, we get to repaint our armor," he added.

Gwaine blinked at them. "Oh my god, your sex lives must be awful..."

"Gwaine!" Elyan and Percival shoved him onto the ground.

At the same time, Fives blurted, "Kriffing _thank you!_ Someone else is on my side!"

"Don't encourage him," Echo frowned at Gwaine's laughter.

"It's a perfectly reasonable comment!" Fives defended. "Happens to be correct!"

Jesse and Hardcase just grinned at each other and let them argue. They'd heard it all before, thanks to the number of regs against any sort of interactions with civvies, and Fives' habit of trying to sneak off when he thought Echo wouldn't notice. Allegedly, his escapades had diminished since completing ARC training. Allegedly. He still bragged about his "irresistible charm" whenever he got a chance, but Captain Rex was more than happy to put him in his place if he ever heard it. Those were moments no one wanted to miss. Several of them Echo had recorded for blackmail purposes.

Gwaine pushed himself back up to sitting with a grin. "Fives, mate, I'm so sorry. I feel your pain."

Echo scowled. "Oh, don't sympathize with him, he knows the regulations against it."

"Yeah, and I know the Knight's Code is against it, too. Doesn't mean I have to be happy about it, yeah, Fives?"

"Can we keep him?" Fives asked Echo pleadingly.

His brother ignored him pointedly. "Can I ask something?" he said, looking to Percival and Elyan.

"Of course," Elyan replied.

"How did you become knights?"

"You mean like the knighting ceremony, or like why did we become knights?" Percival asked.

"I guess why, then. I'm just curious, because..." He glanced at his brothers. "Well, we don't exactly get a choice."

The knights glanced at each other. Now that Echo had asked, Hardcase was curious too. Being born into soldiering was one thing, but there were thousands of beings in the galaxy who actively made that choice. Hardcase had his suspicions that he would have fought given the choice anyway, but he wanted to hear the knights' answers.

"None of us really planned on it," Elyan explained. "Knighthood was more a... side effect of how we lived our lives. Normally, you're born into it--not like you are, obviously. Leon was. His father was a knight, and his father before, so Leon had to follow and serve Camelot's king. But all of us grew up peasants: I was a blacksmith; Percy was a farmer."

"I was nothing," Gwaine put in. "On the streets, on the run."

Elyan nodded in acknowledgement before continuing. "We all recognized Arthur was a man worth fighting with and dying for, and he saw it too, I guess. It was worth serving his father if it meant serving him one day as king."

"I've yet to hear something good about Arthur's father," Jesse pointed out, wiping his chin with the side of his glove. He was a mess thanks to that pear.

"There was nothing good about him," Gwaine replied without missing a beat. Elyan and Percival didn't refute him.

"But don't you need training to be a knight?" Echo asked. "Weapons, strategy, stuff like that?" Of course the ARC would ask that. "You couldn't have learned that as peasants."

"Sure," Percival said. "But most of that we got after knighthood. Most of what you need to be a knight is combat skills and a healthy dose of 'don't be a prick.' Which we all had."

"What sort of combat skills?" Hardcase asked.

Gwaine gestured to the armory. "We have to know how to use everything in there. Plus unarmed."

"So... I could go pick anything out, and you'd all know how to fight with it?" Hardcase furthered.

"'Case, what are you thinking?" Jesse asked.

"If he wants to spar, I'll spar," Gwaine offered.

Out of instinct, Hardcase looked to Echo and Fives for their input. They did outrank him. "Go for it, _vod_ ," Fives said, finishing off another scone.

"Just don't kill each other," Echo said, already resigned to it.

"Yes!" Hardcase got to his feet and went into the dim armory. After a pause for his eyes to adjust, he quickly found the weapon racks along the walls. The basic structure of the weapons were all familiar to him after his time in the war. Spears, staffs, shields, swords, axes--

Hardcase stopped in front of a rack. He had seen these kinds of weapons before, but he had never had the opportunity to use one or fight against one. Basically, it was a long handle and a metal ball connected to it by a chain. He grabbed a pair and returned outside. "What do you call these?"

"That would be a flail," Gwaine replied with a smile. "You'll want a shield in that case. I should also add that, while I did offer the spar, Percival is a magician with those things," Gwaine said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "If you want to see how a master works."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Gwaine," the big knight replied. Gwaine opened his mouth with a grin, but Percival quickly put a hand over it. "Not in polite company, you don't."

Jesse scoffed quietly. "Fives is still here, don't worry." The ARC elbowed him sharply, which made Jesse snicker.

Finally, Percival got to his feet. "I'll get a shield, and we'll see what you've got, yeah?"

When he returned with it, Jesse said, "Hey, you better not break my batchmate. Kix will probably kill me."

"What's a batchmate?" Elyan asked.

"Clones come out in squads of five," Fives explained. "We grow up together, live together, and train together before being shipped out to the Republic."

"So... like brothers?" Gwaine inquired. Before the correction came, he amended, "I know, you're all brothers, I got that. But you're extra close, yeah?"

Jesse and Hardcase nodded. Frankly, Hardcase was surprised at how quickly the knights had accepted all the new information. For people who had never seen clones before, they were doing remarkably well. "Yeah, something like that," Jesse replied.

Gwaine tilted his chin towards the two ARC troopers. "You two are batchmates, aren't you?"

"What gave it away?" Echo deadpanned.

Fives put an arm around him. "Aww, he saw how much we love each other, right Echo?"

"Get off."

Jesse smirked at them. "Kix is our batchmate too. And he's our medic. So no breaking that one," he said, pointing at Hardcase.

Percival smiled, handing the shield to Hardcase. "Hey, I get it. I was oldest of four. Anyone touched my siblings, they answered to me."

None of the clones said anything, but they had all picked up on the language he used. They'd heard it all before, and said a lot of it, and they didn't have to ask to know what had happened.

"Hey, wait a minute," Hardcase said, finally noticing Percival had no shield. "Why don't you get one?"

Gwaine and Elyan smiled knowingly. "He's not gonna need one, mate," Gwaine said. "The only person who can land a hit on him with a flail is Arthur on a good day."

Hardcase held the weapon in his hand a little tighter. What had he gotten himself into this time? Everyone around him always reminded him not to go rushing into situations, and here he was.

"Now, flails are a little temperamental," Percival said, moving away from the group, twirling the weapon easily by his side. "They can come back and bite you, literally."

"Are you gonna be teaching me while you're trying to take my head off?" Hardcase asked as he followed him.

"I'm not gonna take your head off, don't worry," Percival assured him. He didn't feel much better after that. It was something Appo would say before doing exactly what he said he wouldn't do. "I don't want your brothers ganging up on me. Ready?"

"Yeah, sure." Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, Percival's arm shot out and his flail struck the center of his shield with a loud clatter. Hardcase bit down on a yelp of surprise as he shifted into battle mindset. That had been a warning shot, proving Percival could hit anywhere if he really wanted.

He was ready for the second attack and met it with his raised shield before swinging out with the flail. The knight bent out of reach without even moving his feet, accurately predicting the path Hardcase's attack would take. Like he mentioned, the chain on the flail made it difficult to know how it would follow his arm. He eyed Percival's motions, noticing how controlled he had to be to maneuver the weapon.

"Come on, 'Case, you got this," he heard Fives shout.

 _Easy for you to say,_ he thought, side-stepping another attack. They were circling each other now, mirroring the other's footwork exactly. Percival was big, but he wasn't slow--not slower than Hardcase, at least. Even after Hardcase got a better grasp of how the weapon handled, he could still dodge and evade a hit before immediately lashing out again. He understood why he had the shield now; it was taking quite a beating, and he would rather it than his unprotected head.

"Percy, you're still going easy on him," Gwaine called out.

"What?" Hardcase couldn't help it. "You're kidding, right?"

"He doesn't have a helmet on," Percival replied, catching the edge of the trooper's shield and almost pulling it off his arm. "I said I wouldn't take his head off."

"Have him put his helmet on, then," Gwaine suggested, sounding way too casual for the adrenaline pumping through Hardcase's system. He swung out, letting the motion of the head and chain aim for him, and he actually struck Percival's flail. Unfortunately, Percival whipped his wrist around, and in an instant, Hardcase's flail was wrenched from his hand, locked in the chain of the other flail.

Now Percival had two weapons and a concerning smile on his face, and Hardcase only had a shield.

"Whoa!" Fives was still having a great time watching him get battered, as usual.

"Use your head, 'Case," Jesse said, barely audible between the strikes against the shield. Now that was an idea. "Not literally." Wrong idea. Jesse always knew what he was thinking.

He was right, of course. He had to think, because right now all he was doing was retreating under a barrage of strikes. Somehow, he needed to get out from under this. Watching carefully, he waited for an opening, some minute pause in Percival's attacks, and when it was there, he took it. He dove to one side, hoping to roll out of the way, but he barely got his arms out in front of him before something caught the back of his breastplate, stopping him short.

"You didn't really think I left that opening by accident, right?" he heard Percival ask from behind.

"Kriff," he swore, scrambling to get his feet under him properly.

Percival released him and patted his shoulder. "Hey, don't feel bad," he said with a smile. "First time with the weapon, you weren't too shabby." He took the shield back before they returned to the group.

They had all gotten to their feet to watch, and Jesse immediately gave Hardcase a once-over for scratches. "I'm fine, Jesse."

When Percival returned from putting the weapons and shield away, he was accompanied by Leon, Kix, Dogma, and Tup. "Hey, look who found us again," he said with a smile.

"Hey, Leon," Gwaine smiled.

The knight glared at his fellows, and at the few scones and fruits left on Gwaine's cloak.

Dogma walked over to Fives and Echo. He pointed to their ARC trooper pauldrons. "Do these mean nothing to you?"

Fives grinned and put a hand on his shoulder. "Dogma, Dogma, Dogma. I didn't do anything, don't worry your little head about it. We're still fine, upstanding ARCs."

"I don't believe you."

"What are these?" Tup asked, holding up one of three remaining scones.

"Delicious! Try it, Tup," Hardcase insisted, grabbing one for himself. They were really good. He needed to get a recipe before he left. Not that he was allowed to cook anything after... that incident... But Appo was allowed, and he was sure the sergeant would love these as much as everyone else did.

"How many regs did you actually break, Echo?" Dogma was not letting this go easily, as expected.

"Break?" Echo repeated. "None. Bent? Eh... maybe two or three."

"Who was sparring?" Leon asked. "We heard it, that's how we found you."

"Me and Hardcase," Percival answered, seeing Hardcase's mouth was full.

Kix narrowed his eyes at his batchmate. Hardcase was used to it. "I'm fine," he said through the scone in his mouth. "Jesse already checked me over."

"I get one moment of peace and quiet, and you all decide to eat strange food and bash each other's heads in," the medic said icily. Tup's chewing slowed guiltily, but didn't stop.

"No one's hurt, Kix," Fives assured him. "Echo and I were here the whole time."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better about it?"

The look of offense on Fives' face was hilarious. Hardcase hid his laugh by stuffing the rest of his scone into his mouth. Out of nowhere, a blue blaster bolt slammed into the stone wall, barely missing Fives' back.

"Troopers, _present!_ " Captain Rex's roar was unmistakeable and utterly terrifying. The men scrambled around, grabbing their buckets and blasters from off the ground. In the confusion, Hardcase was pretty sure he grabbed Echo's helmet, but he realized it too late. To boot, the surprise of the captain's order had caused him to inhale sharply, sending half the scone towards his lungs. He needed to cough, but there was still a chunk of scone in his mouth, and he was already lined up and saluting by the time all of that had processed through his brain.

And the commander was there too, of course. As if Rex wasn't bad enough. She didn't look nearly as murderous as Rex, though. The captain stalked up and down the line of seven, glaring ferociously at them all. He stopped in front of Echo. "That's not your helmet, ARC."

"I realize that, sir."

Hardcase needed to cough so badly. His diaphragm kept spasming but he kept it under control. He knew Rex was coming to him next.

"Hardcase. I believe this belongs to you," he said, holding up the helmet.

Unable to speak, Hardcase could only nod and hum the syllables roughly corresponding to, "Sir, yes, sir."

"I didn't hear that, trooper."

 _Kriff. Oh, kriff kriff kriff--_ He couldn't. He couldn't cough in the captain's face. He'd be cleaning the barracks, mess, toilets, and Rex's boots for three months if he did.

"What's in your mouth, trooper?" He didn't wait for an answer that wouldn't come and turned to Fives next to him. "What's in his mouth, Fives?"

"A scone, sir."

"...A scone. Where'd that come from?"

"The, uh... castle kitchens, sir."

"The kitchens? Well, that was certainly generous of them, wasn't it, men?" Rex already knew. He had to know. There was no way that man didn't know what they had done. He grabbed Echo's helmet from Hardcase's hand and returned the helmets to their proper owners. He stepped back from the line, giving them all one final inspection. "You're all complete and utter morons. But, I have a feeling no regulations were actually broken," he said, eyeing Echo and Fives, "and everyone is in one piece and their equipment is in order. Hardcase, would you please just get it out of your system? You're redder than the Coruscant Guard. At ease, men."

The line visibly relaxed, and Hardcase finally could swallow what was in his mouth and cough the crumbs out of his lungs. It hurt. Fives patted him on the back, and the commander came over too. "Doing okay there, Hardcase?" she asked. At least she sounded sympathetic.

"Yeah, just great, Commander," he rasped.

"Was it good, whatever it was?"

"Amazing," Fives answered. Hardcase nodded mutely, still recovering. "There was one left, actually," Fives went on. "Yeah, here." He grabbed the last scone off of Gwaine's cloak and handed it to the commander.

She took it and looked it over. "What are they called?"

"Blueberry scones." Gwaine had joined them. "Personal favorite of mine. Thought the guests should know what they're missing."

Commander Tano nodded, already chewing a bite. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded again, clearly approving of the treat. "These are really good," she said.

"Just don't inhale one, sir," Hardcase, finally managing a smile. He was feeling much better.

"Yeah, sorry about that," she said. "Rex insisted."

"Insisted?" Fives repeated. "You're telling me he planned that?"

"You prank him all the time, I think it's fair," Commander Tano said, taking another bite of her scone.

"He almost shot me!"

Hardcase smiled at Fives' indignation. "Fives, if he wanted to shoot you, you'd be dead." Rex was legendary with his pair of pistols.

"It wasn't even set to stun!" Fives pointed out.

"There are different settings to those things?" Gwaine asked.

"Oh, yeah, here. I'll show you," Fives began, holding up his blaster.

Commander Tano shook her head. Turning to Hardcase, she said, "Looks like you boys had fun here."

He nodded. "Yes, sir. It's... peaceful, for once."

"Yeah. And Fives seems to have found a friend."

"Yeah, those two are peas in a pod, from what I can see," he told her. He cast his eye around the green. Leon, Dogma, and Echo were in discussion--probably about regs or duties or something that would put Hardcase to sleep in a second. Rex and Kix were watching everyone like hawks, and Jesse and Tup were chatting with Percival and Elyan. It was... weird to be so at ease. Normally, the clones were barely allowed to talk to civilians on the ground, let alone spend a few hours chatting. "Any idea when we'll be leaving, Commander?"

She shrugged. "When the generals have what they came for, I guess. I escaped as soon as I could." Hardcase gave her a small smile. "Do you think you'd ever come back here if you had the chance?" she inquired.

"Maybe," he replied after a pause. The idea of life without the war was foreign to him, of course. He didn't really know what he'd do if he made it through. Statistics said he probably wouldn't, but the idea was there. "It's a bit off the grid, sir."

"Yeah," she agreed with a quiet laugh. After a moment, her face grew more solemn. "But I think I'd need that. After it's all over." A grave silence fell between them for several moments before the commander squared her shoulders and said, "But, we're not leaving yet. Don't let me keep you from having a little fun."

"Yes, sir," he replied with more enthusiasm before going to join Fives' little lesson on blasters. It was probably not the smartest idea, because if anything went wrong, Captain Rex would have to suspect him as well as Fives, but he wasn't worried. For once, even the captain was a little relaxed.

**Author's Note:**

> I love my knight boys. I love my clone boys. The only solution is to put them in the same place and let them play. Turns out, Gwaine, Fives, and Hardcase are even more hazardous together!
> 
> There... may or may not be a sequel to this in the form of the knights finding out about The Chip and deciding "We will go fight whoever is responsible" and then they take down Palpy out of sheer stupidity. BUT YEAH IT MIGHT HAPPEN?


End file.
